SOCAR to build electrolysis plant in Switzerland

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Swiss electricity producers Alpiq and EW Hofe and SOCAR Energy Switzerland will jointly build an electrolysis plant with a capacity of up to 10 MW in Switzerland’s Freienbach district, EW Hofe has reported.

The plant is scheduled to go into operation by late 2022, and when fully expanded, will produce around 1,000 to 1,200 tons of green hydrogen per year for emission-free mobility.

"With a capacity of up to 10 MW, it [electrolysis plant] will be significantly larger than the previously largest system and accordingly also be able to produce more: in the final stage, around 1,000 to 1,200 tons per year. SOCAR, EW Hofe and Alpiq are thus raising the production of green hydrogen in this country to a new level," the statement reads.

It was reported that the green hydrogen produced in Freienbach can supply a maximum of approximately 200 fuel cell electric commercial vehicles, in heavy traffic. This avoids the emission of around 14,000 tons of CO2 per year compared to the use of diesel trucks.

"The planned hydrogen production plant will have a groundbreaking character. The green hydrogen is transported with a pipeline from production in the former substation to the neighboring Fuchsberg motorway service station, where SOCAR will set up hydrogen filling stations in both directions," the company reported.

Additionally, a filling plant will be built at the service station in order to deliver the hydrogen that is not directly sold at the Fuchsberg motorway service station to other hydrogen filling stations in Switzerland. 

It was also reported that in a second phase, the project partners plan to feed the waste heat generated during hydrogen production into the newly emerging regional district heating network of Energie Ausserschwyz. With the waste heat, up to 1,300 households in the districts of Hofe and March can be supplied with heat.

SOCAR is involved in exploring oil and gas fields, producing, processing, and transporting oil, gas, and gas condensate, marketing petroleum and petrochemical products in domestic and international markets, and supplying natural gas to industry and the public in Azerbaijan. The company owns two refineries in Azerbaijan, one in Turkey, as well as networks of petrol stations in Azerbaijan, Turkey, Georgia, Romania and Switzerland.

It should be noted that the largest network of SOCAR gas stations is in Switzerland.